In no way did I mean to imply that I devalue philosophy in general. I'm simply wondering if certain philosophical issues that seem reoccurring throughout history and more importantly, quite often have led or continue to lead to vexing disagreement, might really be considered a huge waste of time and thought; and in avoiding such buzzkills in the future, we might determine the meaningfulness of the idea at hand by its usefulness.
In terms of practicality, Chad, I think broadly speaking we must first begin by defining a concept by its real world, or rather empirical, counterpart, and asking ourselves what and how does this concept change our relation with the object-- in terms of how we come to view it, what might we do as a result, what in the knowledge we acquire enables us to ride it to further insights about the world, etc.
In terms of practicality, Chad, I think broadly speaking we must first begin by defining a concept by its real world, or rather empirical, counterpart, and asking ourselves what and how does this concept change our relation with the object-- in terms of how we come to view it, what might we do as a result, what in the knowledge we acquire enables us to ride it to further insights about the world, etc.
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
